Miles Apart
by AnnaWhite83
Summary: Ryan has finally made it as a top Architect, the question is what has it cost him to get there? A story of love, loss and betrayal.I don't own the OC although i do wish i owned Ryan, Luke and Seth!
1. Chapter 1

This is my very 1st attempt at a Fan Fic, I found my inspiration from NCG, ObsessedRomantic, Whitelilly0989 and so many other great writers on the site.

Please read and review – feedback always welcome.

Anna x

_It had been 1095 days since they had last seen each other, a whole 3 years today and she really couldn't let it go on any longer than that. In fairness it had already been too long and keeping herself locked away so no one could see them just wasn't working out any more._

_Something had to change if she was going to get on track and be able to set up a good life for them and she was the only person who could make any changes. So, today was the day she was going back, the day that she was going to tell them everything. She just hoped it wasn't going to bring everything crashing down around her._

The heat was unbearable on site today but it's my job to make sure nothing slows them down, that they are ahead of deadline. Well at least that they hit target, failure is not an option.

My name is Ryan Atwood and I have been lead Architect with Laing Associates in Seattle for 1085 days now, and it's been 1099 days since I last saw her. I miss her each and every day – I wonder if she ever thinks of me. It was my choice to take the job and her choice not to come with me, she was studying Forensics and Criminal Psychology at Berkeley. It was her final year and there was no college in Seattle that offered the course.

At the time I thought there would be no question in her coming or not, I thought that she loved me and would follow me anywhere so when I gave her the ultimatum of coming with me or breaking up I thought my heart had been ripped out when she said she would miss me.

At the time I felt like she was being unreasonable not supporting me, I never once thought about how unreasonable I was being not even considering her career or the fact that I expected her to just walk away from all that hard work with only a year to go.

There are days over the last 3 years that I can't even remember what my life was like with her because I have worked so hard to shut it all out. But it's the season, the time of year that brings it all back – the day I walked away from the most important person in my life without even a second thought. When it starts to frost up a bit and there is a chill in the air it reminds me of arriving in Seattle without her and wishing she was here to keep me warm and safe.

Its wrong for me to think of her now, I moved on with my life and I'm sure she has as well. 2 years ago Taylor came back from France saying she was divorcing Henri-Michel for the 2nd time in her life and that she had made a mistake, well I was lonely and she knew me so I asked her out. Now we are planning our wedding, Taylor Townsend will be Taylor Atwood in 8 weeks time, she is so excited!

I wonder if she found someone else, if she got married, I wonder if she thinks of me.


	2. Chapter 2  Ryan's POV

NCG thank you so much for reading and reviewing it means a lot. Thank you for your comments about making it easier to follow by changing to and from italics I promise I will use it all the time now. Chapter 2 is up, read and review.

Anna xx

Ryan's Point of View

Let me take you back a bit – you need to know where I was to understand how I ended up where I am.

Taylor and I hooked up at Julies almost wedding to Bullet. I guess you could say it was for old times sake or maybe we were just automatically drawn to each other but after that night I had no contact from her until the morning Seth finally married Summer.

Seth, Sandy, Frank, Bullet and Jimmy where having a boys session while we got ready. For some reason I was getting a bit of a hard time from them all since I was the last man standing. Seth couldn't help but rub in the fact that I hadn't found the "one" to marry yet. Sandy had the Kirsten, Frank had the Julie, Jimmy finally married Hayley and Bullet, well, the bullet – he had his new 20 year old wife!

I was never so glad for a phone to ring as I was at that very moment.

Caller id told me it was Taylor, with a deep breath I answered the phone and we chatted like we had only spoken yesterday. Mostly it was nonsense about how different the weather was in France compared to Berkeley, to how she was working really hard teaching languages at a school over there and how well she had heard I was doing. Taylor was just being Taylor – rambling, but I could tell something was different, she seemed almost nervous.

So, I asked her. I asked her what she wasn't saying and she said she was sorry! Being the idiot I am said I was sorry for not being in touch, that she wasn't the only one to blame – then she dropped the bombshell that that wasn't what she meant. This was the day Taylor Townsend told me she had gotten married, again, to Henri-Michel, AGAIN!

She didn't want there to be any weirdness between us today, it was Seth and Summers moment and she didn't want to ruin it. What else could I say but that I was fine, that I was good and that I was happy for her.

Ultimately I cared about Taylor even though I wasn't in love with her anymore I did still love her and I guess at the time I always thought that one day maybe we could work it out, that we could fall into a steady pattern of togetherness.

In the space of that 5 minute call everything changed – it had to.

I just remember her saying she was glad i was ok and that I was happy, that she would save a dance for me at the wedding.

I had a 7 & 7 to calm my nerves and downed it in 1, I poured another 1 for each of us and went back to join the men. I raised a toast to my brother and put all thoughts of Taylor to the back of my mind, it wasn't my day and I had a job to do. I had to be the best man, question is best man for who?


	3. Chapter 3 Taylor's POV

Taylor's Point of View

I landed back in the Grand Old US of A on the morning of August 12, the day before Summer finally walked down the aisle to meet Seth – I was going to be Summers maid of honour and Ryan was Seth's best man.

I knew this was going to be a tricky visit, I had to face my fears and take responsibility for my actions. I had to tell everyone that I had married Henri-Michel for the 2nd time. Worst of all I had to tell Ryan and I had no idea how he was going to react!

A part of me always loved Ryan I just didn't have the burning desire to be with him any longer, it was as if without the passion there wasn't much else left. We never really ever talked, I mean come on Ryan never really conversed with anyone but with me he had started to shut down, so after our little encounter at Julies almost wedding I left, went back to France and I left California behind.

I knew I had to tell Ryan before anyone else, it just wouldn't have been fair otherwise. I spent the night with Summer and the girlies talking about the good old days and pampering ourselves before the big day. It was wonderful to just be Taylor with my friends and not be Ryan's girlfriend or Henri's wife, I just couldn't bring myself to ruin the moment.

So 1st thing the next morning I called him, I called Ryan and wasted valuable minutes talking about the difference in weather between Cali and France, how ridiculous could I have been. I must have sounded like I was doing a telesales call. He called me on it though and asked me what I was hiding and I just blurted it all out like a nervous wreck and all he could say was that he was happy, he was happy that I was happy and that he would see me at the wedding.

Ryan Atwood sounded like he didn't wasn't even phased, I knew then that I had made the right decision to marry Henri.

The sun was shining on August 13 as I stood beside my friend while she pledged her love to Seth. I couldn't help but catch Ryan's eye and even after our uber awkward call this morning he had a look of understanding but more than that he still looked like he cared, like I was special, like I was his friend.

I loved him for that, that was the moment I realised that I had friend – that I had Ryan Atwood as my friend. Always.


	4. Chapter 4 Ryan's POV

Ryan's POV

After the wedding Seth and Summer left to sail the Mediterranean on their honeymoon and everything else went back to normal. Taylor flew back to France and I went back to my life and Sandy and Kirsten made sure I had dinner with them and Sophie every other night, apparently I still didn't have to do anything alone.

I had qualified as an architect and taken a job with Smith & West right here in Berkeley, nowhere near the size or status of the Newport Group but I was close to my family and that was all that mattered to me. I had come to realise that I really was a Cohen in everything but name and that Sandy and Kirsten really where my parents. I still couldn't call them Mom and Dad but it never mattered because they knew how much I loved them and that they meant everything to me.

Over the years I have worked hard and played very little so that I could graduate from Berkeley, even finishing in the top 5% of my class. The day the results came through I thought they sent out someone else's results – I was so shocked. Sandy put his arm around me and told me how proud he was of me while Kirsten burst into tears as she tried to get the words to come out, I didn't need her to say anything at all as her expression said it all… she loved me and I had made her happy. All the hard work had paid off.

With results like that I really could have had my pick of companies to work for but my history made it a no brainer. When the 1st 16 years or your life are spent thinking that you will amount to nothing, having no one be proud of you ever and spending every day literally just trying to survive to then be given a fresh start with a new family who would lay their life down for you I knew there was no way I could just leave the minute my education was over. I wanted them to see the outcome of everything that they had done for me but most of all I wanted to make Sandy and Kirsten proud of me, I wanted to make my parents proud of me.

According to Kirsten now that I was no longer a student it was time to let loose, get out and have some fun and try turning the tables and playing a bit more than I work. I promised I would but for some reason kept putting it off – Seth and Summer had moved to New York and the guys at work where all a lot older than me with a wife and kids and rarely went out unless it was for a round of golf. When I was at Berkeley I spent most of my time with Luke Ward, he was studying Forensic Science and we actually found that we really did have a lot in common. We both still had a way with the ladies and got into the odd scrape when we went out but nothing like back in Newport. When Luke graduated he took a probation job with LVPD in their CSI team 12 months ago and it's been kinda strange not having him around so when he called to say that he was transferring to a permanent job back here the 1st thing I did was take Kirsten's advice and plan a guy's night out. Couple of beers, play some pool and scope out the girls sounded like a good night.

For the 1st time in a long time I was looking forward to having guy time.


	5. Chapter 5 Guy's Night Out

Huge shout out to NCG for faithfully reviewing and giving me feedback on the story. The chapters just now are all set in the past and are giving you an insite into who is who and how they got to where you are. Ava is my own character, I hope you will like her. Keep reading and reviewing. xx

Guys Night Out

I could see Luke approaching a mile off, he still looked exactly the same, surfer dude from California only a little older and maybe a little wiser but time would tell.

"Chino, long time no see" "How the hell are you dude"? Luke yelled as he punched me in the arm, like I said still the same old Luke.

"Hey Luke, it's good to see you man" "Can't wait to hear all about Vegas, I bet you have a story or 2 from there. Did she have a different name every weekend or what" I replied as I slapped him on the back.

That's when I noticed that something **was** different, Luke was blushing and saying that he didn't do that anymore and I think he said something about someone being special then he just stopped talking. Now this was something I wanted to hear more about, I knew in order to do that I would have to get some drinks down us if I was going to get Luke to talk.

It was after beer number 5 that Luke started to fill me in on the last year and the life he had in Vegas. Believe it or not but he actually only got in 1 fight the whole time he was there and that only happened recently because he was defending the honour of the CSI student from UNLV that he was was now dating. According to Luke he almost blew it right there and then because apparently she didn't need someone to protect her, she was perfectly capable of doing that herself. Clearly she wasn't from Newport!

Let me fill you in on what I know because really she is pretty much all we talked about all night! Her name is Ava, she was 23 and studying to be a Forensic Scientist just like Luke, she still had 2 years to go before she graduated and had just spent the last 6 months on placement with LVPD. Apparently there was a bit of a "situation" at UNLV that made her unable to stay there so she transferred and moved to Berkeley 3 weeks ago, coincidence that Luke has moved back – I think not!

They met at the station when she was paired with one of the guys on Luke's team and he said instantly he was drawn to her and couldn't take his eyes off her, the same couldn't be said for Ava as apparently she was totally indifferent to him. She didn't blush when he spoke to her or take him up on any of his offers to help her study and she went out on a different date almost every other night and not once did she let Luke finish the sentence when he started to ask her out. He wasn't shy in admitting that he found it unsettling that there was this hot girl who he was totally "crushing" on (his word not mine) and she was not falling at his feet, he wasn't used to not getting what he wanted and apparently it made him want her even more.

After a month of getting shot down he finally got her to agree to go out for a drink with him. It had been one of the worst cases Luke had ever worked on and the whole team where involved, there had been a family killed by an intruder and only the 5 year old survived. According to Luke the way he was with the kid made Ava look at him in a different light, that she saw another side to him and not the big dumb jock that she thought he was. So, they went out that night for a couple of drinks then Luke walked her home where they drank some more and talked about everything and anything until 4 in the morning when they fell asleep. Luke realised that she was the 1st girl who saw inside Luke and not just for what he looked like and he realised that she went on a different dates all the time because she didn't want to settle and could tell after an hour or so if it would go anywhere.

From there on in they spent almost every night together either at her place or his talking, cooking and generally getting to know each other. Luke stopped sleeping around and Ava stopped going out on different dates every other night, they just kind of fell into being together and their colleagues at the station all knew and accepted them as a couple but it did mean Ava had to move into another team as it was seen as a conflict of interest.

Then 6 weeks ago the "situation" happened. Ava had a fellow student at UNLV who like Luke had tried to ask her out several times since they started the course and every time Ava said thank you but no thank you and the guy seemed to accept her answer for a couple of months before he tried again. That all changed when Ava and Luke got together and he would meet her on Campus for lunch whenever he could, the guy James noticed that they spent a lot of time together and that she wasn't going on random dates anymore – it seems James couldn't handle the fact that she was officially unavailable and would turn up at her apartment every time he knew she was alone, would be in the coffee shop waiting for her with her favourite drink every morning and was getting flowers and gifts delivered to her at the station every time she was on shift. Then one night when Luke was in Miami for a course Ava went home as usual and was woken in the middle of the night feeling that there was someone right beside her.

She knew it wasn't Luke and reached under the bed to get the gun that Luke left for her whenever he was out of town but it wasn't there, the box was empty. That's when she felt the cold metal put pressure on her stomach and she turned her head to see James smiling at her. Only James and Ava know what happened that night but neither ever talk about it. Ava doesn't talk about it because it was just too hard to remember keep replaying it and James doesn't talk about it because he killed himself while he was on trial for attempted murder. Apparently no one ever talks about the fact that James was seriously beaten while he was in a holding cell other than the one time Ava asked Luke how his hand was all busted up and told him that violence wouldn't fix anything and that she could take care of herself.

Luke on the other hand told me that he couldn't deal with the fact that he almost lost her when that psycho shot her with the very gun Luke left behind to protect her.


	6. Chapter 6 The situation

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I'm glad we have a few Luke fans out there, I always thought they could have done more with their friendship in the show and was disappointed when he left the show.

Being here with Chino drinking beer makes me feel like I have never been away. Over the years we got closer and became good buddies, we didn't have the same bond he did with Seth but it was pretty close.

My Mom and brothers still lived in Newport and my Dad was settled in Portland with Steve so Ryan and the Cohens became a huge part of my life when I moved here. Ryan and I did our best to keep each other out of trouble even sharing an apartment while I was here. It was our very own bachelor pad.

Maybe that's why I found it so easy to talk to him about Ava and what happened to her when I was in Miami.

I'd had a bit to drink and it was late when I got back to the hotel room so when my boss called I was already a bit disorientated. Even now I still can't remember exactly what was said but the words Ava, shot and surgery hit me like a truck, the room started to spin and my body felt like lead as I hit the floor. Those words kept replaying in my until banging on the door brought me back to semi consciousness.

I don't even remember getting up or how I got to the door but my mate Eric was standing in front of me, apparently the boss called him after I stopped responding and explained everything. Eric guided me back in, sat me down and poured me a scotch from the mini bar while he gathered the essentials while saying he would explain everything when we where on our way home. I did hear him say she was alive and that was all that mattered right then.

Ava was holding on and I loved her.

Miami PD had a helicopter ready and waiting to take us back to Vegas, they had clearance from the hospital for us to land on the roof - apparently there was no time to waste. The speed everything was moving did nothing to calm me down, in fact it made me worse - if it wasn't serious I would not have been getting strapped into a helicopter.

The 1st part of the journey was spent in silence until I caught my breath and was able to reply with full sentences, only then did Eric start to fill me in. Apparently the neighbour from 9C made a frantic call to 911 when she heard 2 shots coming from Ava's apartment, she knew I was out of town and that Ava was on her own (9C was 86 and had no family so Ava made a point of checking in on her every day for a chat), as soon as the address flagged on the system dispatch knew it was on of their own and every available officer had raced to the scene.

The front door to the apartment was wide open and when the 1st responders went inside Ava was bleeding out on the bed with that psycho James just lying beside her. Eric said James was oblivious to the activity in the room until they had him cuffed and he was being dragged out the room, he started screaming that he had to stay with her until she was an angel. The son of a bitch wanted to stay and watch her die!

She was rushed to hospital and taken straight to an O.R and as far as Eric knew they where still working on her. Then there was silence, an uncomfortable and awkward silence. I knew there was something else, something he wasn't saying so I asked him. I asked him what he was hiding and he said it didn't matter, that it could wait but I just kept pushing him until he told me, until he said that the gun found in his hand was a police issue gun and the serial matched mine.

A sudden wave of sickness came over me and Eric passed me a bag. It was my gun!

All I could think about was she could die and it was all my fault.


End file.
